Ticket prices are sky high, demand is still soaring for Auburn-Oregon BCS title showdown

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Eric Varnadore believed in the Auburn football team so much that he bought tickets to watch the Tigers in the BCS national championship game when they still had major hurdles to get there.

"We were counting on Auburn beating Georgia, then going to Tuscaloosa and win, and then winning the SEC championship," Varnadore said. "On Nov. 9, we made a $1,500 bet that has paid off in nothing but heartache."

That's because on Nov. 9 he bought four tickets to the BCS national championship game on eBay as an anniversary trip for his wife, plus two friends. But he hasn't gotten -- and most likely won't get -- the tickets.

With airline tickets already paid for, he and his wife are flying in for four nights in Arizona with only a prayer of finding tickets to college football's biggest game.

"That's my sad ticket story," said the football coach at Albertville High School.

Varnadore is not alone. StubHub.com reports that the demand for Monday night's Auburn-Oregon game has broken the record for the toughest ticket to find in its 10-year history, so much so that the company stopped offering tickets Wednesday. On Thursday, the company tried to fulfill existing orders by trying to buy back tickets from those who received them. StubHub's offer was a full refund, plus double the purchase price.

Auburn graduate Charlie Higdon of Marble Falls, Texas, was offered $5,000 for the pair he bought from StubHub. He turned it down.

"I can't do it," he said. "The last time Auburn won the national championship was the year I was born, and my son, who is an Auburn graduate, is going with me."

StubHub reports the highest price paid for a single ticket is $9,446. Somebody is offering 18 tickets in a luxury box for $97,500.

There are no takers yet. But six tickets were sold on eBay for $19,999.99. And four tickets on the 50-yard line sold for $18,500. Four more sold for $16,548.48. Another four went for $15,999.99.

StubHub says Monday night's game has moved to No. 1 on its all-time list of sporting events, beating Game 5 of the 2009 World Series, the last game in old Yankee Stadium.

StubHub spokesman Joellen Ferrer said Thursday that the company was caught short for the Auburn-Oregon game when one of its largest ticket brokers "wasn't able to fulfill all of his orders."

To fulfill outstanding orders, StubHub offered "monetary incentives" for those who received tickets.

University of Phoenix Stadium, home of the BCS title game

"We've seen positive responses and we think we'll be able to fill all our orders," Ferrer said. She said StubHub may be able to offer tickets again on its website by this weekend.

Higdon has two tickets in hand from StubHub and is hoping two more he purchased through the company will be delivered, too. But he's pessimistic.

"The StubHub guy I talked to said, 'What's up with you Auburn people? You guys are not coughing up these tickets.' I told him he'd have to talk to Oregon people because I don't think the Auburn people are going to sell," Higdon said.

Steven West, an Auburn graduate in Atlanta, thought he was in. He bought four tickets on eBay for $2,600 from a company called Events Worldwide.

"On Tuesday, they said everything would be fine," West said. "I got an e-mail Thursday that said the company dissolved."

The company's correspondence said the company dissolved on Dec. 1, four days after he bought the tickets.

"They said they sent a certified check on FedEx," West said. "They sent me a tracking number, so they sent me something. I'm supposed to get the check. We'll see."

He, too, bought airline tickets on the assumption he was going to the game. He can't get a refund, but he's not flying to Arizona. He said he'll drive to Auburn and watch the game with friends.

Varnadore got a refund on his tickets, but he didn't want it and has been trying to get tickets another way. He said he began corresponding with the person he bought them from a month after purchasing the tickets, wondering where the seats were and how he'd get the tickets.

He said his response was this: "'To be honest with you, I don't know how this will work out myself, and you seem like you're getting to be nervous about the transaction, and I don't like nervous customers, and I've made a decision to cancel your order and refund your money,'" Varnadore said. "I immediately told him I didn't want a cancellation, I wanted my tickets."

He said he contacted the Better Business Bureau and the National Association of Ticket Brokers. No luck.

"They said it wasn't right what he did, but there's nothing they can do," Varnadore said.

Still, there will be a slightly belated anniversary trip to Arizona. Just no football.